The Beginning of The End
by Barbara.War
Summary: My own mild speculation of what the Season 5 Premiere holds.
1. The Morning After

_Well this my mild speculation of the contents of the Season 5 Premiere._

_Rating:T_

_Disclaimer: The day that I own anything remotely associated with Castle will be a happy, happy, happy day. But unfortunaly hasn't yet come. Therefore I own nothing._

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**The Beginning of The End**

_Chapter 1: The Morning After_

She opened her eyes slowly taking in everything around her; she felt the warm presence of her partner beside her and couldn't help but smile at the memory of what they had done the night before.

"Morning, Kate." He said sleepily when he realized she was awake.

Her smile grew wider as she answered him. "Morning, Rick."

They locked their eyes for awhile taking in everything that had happened in the last hours, the kiss, the confession, what had come afterwards...

Their happiness, however, was cut short by a soft noise of a door being opened.

"Oh, no. Alexis. What time is it?" Castle asked slipping out of bed and putting on his boxers.

She reached the nightstand table for his phone and looked over the time. "A few minutes past noon." Though her voice sounded steady and calm she felt her heartbeat fasten, she was not ready to handle with her partner's daughter just yet.

As both of them tried to dress as fast as they could they heard Alexis' voice calling. "Dad?"

"I'm just coming downstairs sweetie!" He, now half dressed, called back while slipping into a robe and going out of the room, giving Beckett one last, panicked, look.

Beckett gathered the rest of her clothes together and finished dressing and then sat at her partner's bed, uncertain of what to do next.

"Hey Alexis." Castle let out awkwardly.

"Oh, hey dad. I just came to drop by and tell you that Paige, I, and some friends are going out for a lunch..., if that's okay with you?" She said and he made his best not to let out a sigh of relief.

Is not that he didn't want Alexis around, it was just that it wasn't the best time for her to show up, so, making his best not to look relieved, he said with a small smile "Of course darling. When do you expect to be back?"

"It shouldn't take too long; we're just going out for lunch..." Alexis said, kissing him on the cheek afterwards. "Bye, dad." And with that she left.

Beckett heard the door open once again and close not long after. As soon as the door closed she heard footsteps heading that way so she rose to her feet.

When Castle emerged once again in the doorway of his bedroom he saw his partner fully clothed, with a worried look plastered on her face.

"Alexis just dropped by to say she was going out for lunch with some friends." He said putting his arms around her waist while she put hers around his neck.

"Now, where were we?" She said with an irresistible smile while she leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the lips.

The light kiss, however, soon developed into a deeper and more passionate one. But it did not last long as they heard a phone ranging.

"You should get this, could be important." Castle said in between kisses.

Reluctantly, Beckett broke off the kiss and started looking for her phone that had gotten lost sometime last night.

Soon enough, though, Castle found it under his bed and handed it to her.

"Beckett." She answered mechanically without checking the caller ID.

"Hum, Beckett." She heard Ryan say awkwardly at the other end of the phone.

"Is everything okay?" She asked. Concerned about what would've made him call her now that she had resigned.

"Ugh, we found a picture of you in a crime scene... Does the name James Smith ring any bells?"

"No. What happened to him?"

"He was found dead in his apartment half an hour ago. Lanie says he was tortured before he was killed, probably to get some information off of him. Any idea of what that might be?"

"No." She said, but then a thought ran through her head. "I'll call you back."

"What's up?" Castle asked as soon as she finished the phone call.

"Remember when you told me about the guy who bargained for my life?" She waited for him to nod before she continued. "I think he's dead."

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_Well, since I have not been able to get my head out of the finale and it's been screwing with my head I thought writing something about might help me focus on something besides Castle. I don't know if I'll write past that. If I get one review I will, though. So if you want to read the rest, please, review. (I'm probably gonna write the whole story no matter what but still would be nice if I got a review)_


	2. Breaking In

_I am sorry this isn't any bigger, but I didn't have much time to write it and I'm pretty lazy when it comes to it. I was already going to post that but it was probably going to be a bit smaller. But I got so much more feedback than I ever do that I felt inspired, I have never gotten that many before. (I know I only got one review but I normally get none, and my inbox of my e-mail was full of 'Favorite Story' 'Story Alert', it just made me intensely happy, so thank you so much for it)_**  
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**The Beginning of The End**

_Chapter 2: Breaking In_

"What? Why?"Castle asked, surprised.

"They found a picture of me at a dead guy's place. He'd been tortured." She said grabbing her leather jacket off the ground.

"You're going there?" He asked fearful. If the files had been stolen it meant he could not protect Beckett any longer so he took off the robe and finished dressing.

"What choice do I have? But I'm going to my place before, to change." She said putting on the jacket and making notion to leave, but Castle's voice stopped her.

"I'm coming with you." He could not let her go alone. He knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself but he would not ever be able to forgive himself if something happened to her and he had not been around to protect her.

"Rick, you don't need to do it if you don't want to." Her voice might be saying that, but her eyes gave away how desperately she wanted him to come with her.

"You're not in this alone."

"I know."

And with that the couple left the apartment.

When they arrived at the building, however, something felt off. They ignored it and went upstairs, hand-in-hand.

When they arrived at her floor, however, it became obvious that she would not be able to get the quick hot shower she'd been hoping for, or even a close of clothes.

The door of her apartment was open and by what she could see of inside her place was trashed, turned upside down.

She let go of Castle's hand and went toward the door, him not far behind her. When she opened the door she saw the place had been completely trashed, couch and cushions sliced open by a knife, drawers on the floor and papers all over.

She went to an adjoined room, where she once had kept her own version of the murder board with all the details she knew about her mother's case, but no more. It had all been ripped out and disappeared with.

That was when something on the floor, half-hidden, caught her attention. She picked it up and turned it to her. It was a picture of her, with a red cross on it; the message was clear: you're next.

She hesitated for half a second before picking her phone and dialing Ryan.

"Hey Beckett, what's up?" He had answered very quickly, almost as if he had been waiting her to call.

"Someone broke into my place, and looks like they were looking for something."

"You think it was related to our murder?" He asked, for a moment forgetting of her resignation.

"It seems that way. I found a picture of me; it has a red cross on it." She could hear him tense up at her words.

"I'll be right there." Ryan said last, hanging up.

"What do you think they were looking for?" Castle asked her as soon as she was out of the phone.

"I don't know."

"Do you think they found it?"

"I don't know. It doesn't look that was, though. The whole place is trashed, if you had found what you were looking for, why bother continue looking?"

"Good point."

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_I hope you liked that. I wanted to write at least until Ryan and Gates got there but I was running out of time, anyway I hope to have another chapter (a bigger one) done by tomorrow. Please review, it just makes my day. :)_


	3. Go Ahead

****_First of all I'm so sorry I couldn't update this any earlier, I've just been very busy, but tomorrow I'll have plenty of time (or I hope so) to write a actual big chapter or to write more than one, I don't know. Either way, I'll make up for it, or at least I'll try to._

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**The Beginning of The End**

_Chapter 3: Go Ahead_

Ryan arrived at the scene accompanied by Gates. When he got there the first thing he saw was Beckett in the same clothes she was wearing the day before next to Castle. She was holding something, a picture maybe?

"Beckett what happened?" Ryan asked as soon as he got closer to the duo.

"I don't know, I just got home and my place was trashed." She said, still staring at the picture in her hand.

"What is that?" He asked her, taking the picture from her hands.

"I found this over there." She said, pointing to the adjoined room.

"Looks like they were looking for something, do you have any idea what it might be, Miss Beckett?" Gates asked, looking around.

Castle's eyes shot at Beckett at the word miss. What had she meant by that? Just then he realized she hadn't told him everything that had happened and as reckless as she had been acting... Could it be that Beckett, the woman that always had seemed to him to have been made to be a cop was out of a job?

Beckett saw the shock in Castle's face when Gates said miss instead of detective. She gave him an apologetic look; she'd have to explain that later to him.

"I don't know." She said, but Castle could tell that this time she was lying. What did she think whoever broke into her house was looking for?

"When did you last leave the house?" Gates asked next.

"Uhm... yesterday early afternoon I guess." Ryan looked at Beckett incredulous, as if wondering what had she been doing since she left the precinct about 7pm the day before. It crossed his mind that she might have spent it at Castle's, but, knowing the two, it wasn't likely.

Gates continued her questioning for more about half an hour; by that time CSU had arrived and started sweeping the place for evidences, finding nothing useful however.

After awhile Castle and Beckett left the apartment, their hands discretely brushing from time to time as they walked out.

As soon as they got to his car all the questions seemed to want a way out of his mouth, but he said nothing, wanting to give her space.

"Go ahead." Beckett said, grinning at Castle's curious look.

"What?" Castle asked looking genuinely curious.

"You're dying to ask me something. Go ahead." Her smile grew wider as she said so.

He couldn't but smile too, what should he start with? "Why did Gates call you miss?"

Her stomach dropped. She knew she'd have to tell him this sooner or later, but she didn't want to have to face it just now. "Castle, I'm no longer a cop."

"What? Gates fired you? Kate, I can pull some strings, I could get your job back, you just need to ask..."

"No, she didn't fire me. Castle, I resigned."

"You what?" Certainly he couldn't have heard it right, how could it be? Katherine Beckett did not just quit. Ever. But again she did give up on her mother's case for him, the reason for her becoming a cop in the first place. Could it be that she had given up on her career as well?

"Gates was going to put me and Esposito on administrative leave, so I quit." She said it simply, as if it was nothing and he just could not believe his own ears.

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_Well, that was short, and somewhat not very good really but I did my best. I really am not on my best writing abilities. (not that I am very good even when I am...) Well, please do not forget to review it would really make my day if you did. :D  
_


	4. Little Chat

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_Personally I think this was the best chapter I've written so far, it's definitely my favorite, and it was the longest (even though it is still short, but I'm getting there) I really hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_And thank you _Googie_ for telling me about the typo, I've fixed it. ;) And I'll try and make the chapters at least a little bit longer._

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**The Beginning of The End**

_Chapter 4: Little Chat_

He stared at her blankly for some time, waiting for the new information to sink in, but it just didn't.

"Rick?" She said his name ever so softly, almost if she did not wish to disturb him but just could not keep silent any longer. But it brought him out of his reverie either way.

"Sorry. Ahm, what do you think who broke into your place was looking for?" He said, trying not to get too distracted with the dark purple marks on her neck that he only now had seen. Could he have hurt her? The thought itself was almost too treacherous for him to bear.

Oh, of course he'd ask that. She should've known that he knew her all too well to be as easily fooled by her lie as her former captain. "I think they were looking for everything that I had on my mom's case.

"You think that's related to the murder." It wasn't a question.

"I think whoever killed James Smith broke into my apartment as well." She elaborated, but Castle was right, that was exactly what she had been thinking. It was almost magical the way their minds seemed to be hitched somehow, their thoughts intertwined.

"Do you have any idea of who that might be? The sniper?" The last word sounded a bit like some kind of a course, as if the very word could get a gate to hell to open on the floor and swallow them all down.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was the one to do it." Her hands reached for her throat as she said so, her fingers brushing lightly against the bruised skin, as if remembering the agony, pain and fear she had been as he choked her, his grip on her throat tight...

He saw the gesture, and he could feel anger boil up inside him as he thought what the bastard must have done to her in order to leave those bruises on her neck, like some sort of twisted purple necklace with the marks of fingers as pieces. He hadn't noticed them before; their morning had been too rushed without barely any time for them to actually talk, and the in the night before it had been too dark for him to actually get a glimpse of any of the bruising around her neck.

Before he could stop himself, before he could think better of it he put it out, however. "Was that how you got the bruising?"

She looked at herself, frowning. When she finally saw the purple marks around her neck and understood what he meant she jerked her head up, her eyes locking on his, her lips parting discretely as she let out a low statement, almost a murmur. "Yeah."

So short and low yet so dreadful, he thought. That simple word had been heard by him multiple times before, but it had never made him feel such...wrath.

"What happened?" His voice was soft, letting none of the anger inside him show.

The dreaded question. She knew it would come the time where she'd need to tell him that as well, she knew he'd need to know. But that did not make it any easier to tell him how she had almost died and all her mind had been filled with was him. What could've happened but she had never given a chance to, the memories, the dreams...

"We tracked him down and Espo and I went up to his apartment. We had started to clear the perimeter when we saw the stolen files of Montgomery's, we rushed to it. He took Esposito down and knocked me to the floor. I got up and as I couldn't get a shot I followed him up to the roof.

"When I got there we fought, he choked me and he knocked me out of the building. I was left hanging out of the building until Ryan came with a backup team and Gates and got me up just as my hand gave out.

"Gates was mad at Esposito and I, she gave us some speech about how we dishonored the badge and how we didn't deserve it. She put us on administrative leave so I quit."

When she was done telling her little tale was still staring blankly at her, as if trying to take in every word that left her mouth and could not understand a single one.

"Are we going, Rick?" She asked. She had been able to get some clothes from her apartment and they had decided that she would hang out on his loft until hers was no longer a crime scene at least.

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Sorry, I just..." He stumbled over the words and was not able to get a single statement out that made any sense at all. He was babbling, but it did not matter because she knew exactly what he meant and words were not needed.

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Well, it is still short, true. But I'm getting there. Maybe next chapter will actually make to a thousand words. Regardless, please review, it just makes my day if you do. and if you have any suggestion, any opinion about the story just review (or PM me if you prefer). I'm open to suggestions here. :)


	5. Lies and Half Truths

_I'm sorry for taking so damn long to update, but I just haven't been able to write anything at all in the past couple of weeks, I'll try and update more frequently from now on._

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**The Beginning of The End**

_Chapter 5: Lies and Half Truths_

They walked side by side, their hands brushing softly from time to time, into Castle's loft. The ride there had been silent, both of them taking in everything that had been just said and heard.

"Do you mind if I take a shower?" Beckett asked, breaking the longing silence.

Castle snapped out of his reverie at the sound of her voice, ever so mesmerizing to him. "Not at all... Ahm, you can use my bathroom if you want..." He said pointing downstairs to his suite.

She smiled at him and lost herself into the deep dark blue of his eyes, and he seemed to have lost himself in her brownish green orbs as well. After awhile of just looking at each other that way she pulled herself out of it and headed to the suite.

Not long after she left his phone started buzzing in his pocket and he took it out and answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello mister Castle." Said a deep, throaty voice.

"Who is that?" He asked, frowning at the strange voice.

"Let's just say that if you don't give me all the information you have on Johanna Beckett's murder I will put you in the ground. And say a word of this to Detective Beckett and she'll go down with you." The voice at the other end said, causing Castle to tense up.

"And if I bring all that information to you no harm will come to her?" He asked, all of his concern being the woman he loved so much.

"You have my word on that. Gather up the information and I'll contact you about the meeting place shortly." As soon as the last word was said the line went dead, but Castle kept his cell phone pressed to his ear for a few more seconds, before he slowly put his cell phone back into his pocket.

He knew he had to do as he was told if he wanted to keep Beckett out of trouble, so he walked to his smart board, turning it on and clicking on the recycle bin, looking for the file he had just deleted the night before but hadn't taken the time to completely vanish with it.

He looked for a pen drive nearby; something where he could put this file in before Beckett could catch him in the act.

Sure enough he saw one on the bench and walked right up to it, picking it up and transferring the file to it and helpfully the pen drive had no other files.

Just as he did so he heard the water stop, so he shoved the pen drive into his pocket.

It didn't take long for Beckett to show up back into the living room, in blue jeans and a white shirt.

A thousand thoughts went through his head as he saw the woman he wished to spend the rest of his life with. He wondered how in hell would he keep such a big secret from her and how would she react once she found out about it, he wondered if he would ever get to grow old beside her, marry her or have kids with her, he wondered how would she react if he showed up murdered in a filthy alley just like her mother had, as the man in the other side of the phone seemed so sure would happen.

As all of that passed through his mind he just stood still, admiring her beauty and his luck which had just started to run out. After all he could not charm his way out of a bullet and one seemed to be coming for him. Soon.

"You okay? You seem distraught." Beckett asked in a sweet voice full of concern. He was not used to a so open Beckett, even vulnerable in a way, but he could not say he didn't like it.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking." And the game begun, a game of lies and half truths that he wished he would never again have to play.

"About what?" She move closer to him, narrowing the space in between them.

"About you." It wasn't a lie, he told himself, as he caressed the soft skin of her neck, his thumb trailing the purple that marked her skin.

She didn't bother saying anything; she just smiled a soft, warm, smile at him and hooked her arms around his waist, her actions saying something that her words didn't need to.

And, easy as that, they found themselves lost in each other's eyes all over again, it was almost ridiculous how easy it was for it to happen.

Their moment was, however, cut short by a noise of an opening door. The two of them, startled, parted and shot a glance to the door.

"Hi dad. Detective Beckett." Alexis was surprised to see the detective in the apartment, as far as she knew it had ended pretty badly between her father and the detective and she had not expected to see her ever again.

"Hi Alexis, had fun?" Her father asked casually, though she could see he was still strangely tense, just as he had been that morning.

"Yeah, it was nice. You guys okay?" She worried a lot about her father; she didn't want him to get heartbroken, it was obvious to anyone who so much as glanced at them that Richard Castle and Katherine Beckett were in love with each other, but they didn't seem to ever act on it.

"Yeah, we're okay. We're great." Beckett said, taking one of Castle's hands in her own.

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_I will try to get the next chapter done by tomorrow. Please review, or PM, either way it makes my day. :)_


	6. And the Game Continues

**__**_Before I forget, I'd like to say that I might've not been as clear as I had intended in the last chapter regarding Cole Maddox's voiced intentions. The fragment 'or she'll go down with you' was supposed to mean that Maddox intended kill Castle no matter what. I saw I review about it so I thought I'd better address it. Also, I'd like to apologize for the delay on the chapter, I had initially intended to get it done by Sunday, but I could not finish writing it. I actually finished it yesterday, but did not have the time to post it. So, with no further delay, here it is The Beginning of The End's 6th chapter: And the Game Continues._

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**The Beginning of The End**

_Chapter 6: And the Game Continues_

Alexis frowned at the detective's action. The Kate Beckett she knew didn't often openly show her affection by her partner. Not long after, however, she saw the detective pull her hand away.

Castle was pleasantly surprised at his, what? Partner? No, she was more than to him, always had been. What then? Girlfriend? Lover? That didn't make her sound as nearly as important as she was to him. Better half, then? Well, that was true but it make it sound like they had been together for longer than a day. The hell with that, he was sticking with that one, at least in his mind.

At that moment his cell phone started buzzing once again, interrupting his thoughts "Excuse me." He said, picking up the phone and stepping away.

"Hello, Mister Castle." He heard the same deep, throaty, voice from earlier on the other end.

"You." Castle said, his voice and expression darkening.

"Meet me at 7 PM clock with all the information I asked of you at Central Park. Be there and I'll find you, don't be late." The line went dead after that.

"Who was that, Rick?" Beckett asked, frowning.

"Hmm..." Damn, he hadn't thought about what he'd say to Kate, so he went with the first thing that came to his mind. "Nobody. Dialed the wrong number..." Dammit, it didn't sound convincing even to his own ears.

Beckett knew he was lying, but decided to let it drop, until she could ask him about it more privately. Alexis could see that he was lying, too, but didn't think much of it. She was still wondering what had happened between the two for her father not to be angry with Beckett anymore and for Beckett to show her affection with her father so openly.

"Hmm... I'm going upstairs, I've got a project to finish." Alexis stated, leaving the two partners to their own business.

"Okay, Pumpkin." She heard her father say behind her.

"Who was on the phone, Rick?" Nor her voice nor her expression was angry, just inquisitive, he noticed.

He decided not to stick with his story, he could tell she knew he lied, but what could he say? He couldn't say it was his mother, or Gina. Meredith, maybe? Yeah, maybe that could work.

"I was Meredith, she called the wrong number." It seems like he was sticking with his story after all.

"Oh, really?" She said, her voiced filled with sarcasm, and he could tell she didn't believe a word of what he had said.

He could see he'd have to tell her the truth, or part of it, anyway. "Maddox called, he wants me to gather up all the information I have on your mother's murder case and hand it over to him" and after that he'll kill me, he thought. "I didn't tell you because he said that if I told you anything he'd kill you and me both." That was the truth, or half of it, anyway.

"Where are you going to meet him? We need to call Ryan and put some patrol cars in there. What if he decides it is better for him to kill you even though you've handed the information?" As she said that she didn't think about catching Maddox once, the only thing she could think about was Castle.

"Central Park, he told me to show up in there at 7 and he'd find me." At least he didn't need to lie about that. It felt good.

"He didn't give you a more specific place of Central Park or anything?" Beckett asked him, worry showing all over her he feature, pooling at her eyes.

"No, nothing. He just told me to show up in there and he'd find me." He told her, as worried as she looked.

"I'll call Ryan, see what he can do." She told him, stepping away and picking up her phone.

"Ryan." She heard him answer on the other end. She could also hear a small noise of pen on paper. He was doing paperwork.

"Ryan it's Beckett, can you talk?" She asked him.

"Oh, sure. Hey Beckett, what's up?" Ryan answered putting down the pen he'd been earlier using to write reports. He had been overloaded with paperwork since Esposito and Beckett had left.

"Maddox called Castle, he wants him to gather up and give him all the information on my mom's murder case." She said at once.

"And you're okay with that?" He asked, incredulous. Just the day before she had been so blinded by her ambition to catch her mother's murder she had dragged Castle killed and nearly gotten killed herself. But now she seemed okay in letting Castle hand over to him all the information they had on her mom's murder.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? Anyway, he told Castle to be at Central Park at 7 and he'd find him."

"He didn't give him a more specific location?" Asked Ryan, writing everything down on a notepad in front of him.

"No, he just told Castle to go to Central Park." She said, worried.

"I'll see what I can do. I'll call you back." He told her, hanging up and rising to his feet.

He walked towards his boss' office and knocked twice on the open door.

"Beckett called, Maddox called Castle and told him to meet him in Central Park with all the information on Beckett's mom's murder case." Ryan told Gates, filling her in.

"_Where_ in Central Park did Maddox told Castle to meet him in?" Gates asked.

"That's the thing, Maddox told Castle to show up with the all the information anywhere and he'd find him, he didn't give him a specific location." Ryan answered.

"I'll see what I can do." Gates said simply, picking up the phone and dialing a number on it. Ryan took that as a dismissal and took his leave.

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I'm sorry that it isn't as long as it might have been, and it has taken far too long to get posted, but I intend to get a bigger chapter done by tomorrow and hopefully life won't get in the way. As always, please review, it makes my day. :)


	7. Trap

****_Once again, I'd like to apologize for the delay on the update. I really did expect this to be up yesterday, but I had less time than I had anticipated and it was not possible. Well, with no more fuzz, here it is The Beginning of The End's seventh chapter Trap._

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**The Beginning of The End**

_Chapter 7: Trap_

Castle had been surprised Beckett had been okay with all this, he had sort of assumed she'd try and talk him out of it, but instead she had only made sure he wouldn't be unprotected when he gave Maddox the files.

She was now helping him set up the wires, she had convinced Gates to let her at least watch from afar as the operation took place. They were now alone as Gates and Ryan were helping prepare the entire operation.

"Are you really okay with this? I kind of had assumed you'd try and convince me not to do this." He told her, regretting every word the moment it left his lips. Why couldn't he think before saying stuff like that?

Beckett frowned, as if thinking about his comment before answering it. He goddamn knew he should've done the same. "I don't like it that you're doing this, but if you don't we'll never be able to get rid of him and the threat that he represents, of constant fear and jeopardy. And I don't want to live my life in fear, not anymore. And I don't want you to live your in fear either. I just wish I could be the one doing this instead of you."

"It's a quarter to seven; we'd better get it going." Ryan said interrupting.

"Okay." Beckett said, biting her lower lip softly while her eyes shone with promise, promise of a future.

She walked away from the two, entering one of the patrol cars near.

Castle walked to the position. If he said he wasn't frightened he'd be lying, but he knew he had to do this, he had no other choice. Even though he couldn't help picturing thousands of ways of how this could go wrong and then he'd end up dead, or worse. Kate-less, tortured. No, better for him not think about it.

Before long, however, he felt a cloth soaked through on some thick, colorless liquid be pressed firmly over his mouth and nose from behind, the weird smell tickling his nostrils, and then everything went black. Unexpectedly. Come from nowhere.

When he woke up he felt dizzy, his eyelids heavy with sleep and his head felt like it had rocks inside it, swirling around in his brain. He felt soreness on his entire body, as if he hadn't moved in ages, and everything felt stiff.

He tried to yell for help but he felt something forcing his lips from parting, duct tape, he realized. He, then, tried to raise one arm, but he felt a rope restraining it, its strings digging into his skin. Slowly, he opened his eyes, taking in the sight in front of him; he was tied up on a chair in a pitch-dark small room.

The door opened and a tall figure entered the room, and moved closer to him.

The figure yanked the duct tape from his lips brusquely, and turned the lights on afterwards. "Hello, Mister Castle. I see you're now awake."

He blinked the sudden clarity away, trying to focus on the figure. Maddox. "What do you want?" He asked, his lips throbbing agonizingly.

"I'm the one who's asking the questions, Mister Castle." He put in front of him some wires. Damn, the wires he had been wearing, now Ryan would not be able to trace him nor hear what was being said.

"Seeing that you inflicted the rules and told detective Beckett of our little ploy, have you at least kept your part of the bargain and brought me the information I asked?" Maddox's voice was cold, not demonstrating a single trace of any feeling whatsoever.

"If I have, will you leave Beckett alone?" Castle asked, he knew Maddox would probably be able to find the information himself if needed but it was worth a try to keep the love of his life out of trouble.

"That was before you told her of our meeting. Now I'll get the information from you, learn all you know and do the same to her. And after I'm done with the two of you, I'll put you both on the ground.

"Spare her and I'll give you anything you want. Any information you might want, money. Whatever quantity your employer is paying I'll double, just leave her alone. I am good for it." He offered him, all on his mind being his better half.

"This is way bigger than you realize Mister Castle. Nothing you might offer me will spare detective Beckett, so you might as well stop trying. Where is the information?" He asked again, coldly.

"I don't have it." He lied.

"You leave me no choice but." Maddox said, pulling a military knife and making a long, thin, cut across his chest, and it hurt as if the hell had broken into his wound and boiling sulfuric acid was on it all at once. So he let out a scream of pain, loud and thin.

"The blade is poisoned. You will not die because of the poison, but it'll hurt." Maddox then said. "So, would you like to tell me where that information is or will you need more... convincing?"

"I. Don't. Have. It." Castle said between clenched teeth, suppressing the overwhelming pain in his chest.

"Okay then, seems like Detective Beckett will be joining our party earlier than I had intended." Maddox said, putting down the knife and picking up his phone instead, and taking a photo of him.

She had been restless since Castle had been kidnapped. It was all her fault; she should've talked him out of it. Gates hadn't let her help in any way, so she was now sitting helpless at a bench in Central Park, trying not to think about what could be happening to the man she loved so much in that same instant.

She couldn't help it, she felt helpless, and the feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. There was nothing she could do. Nothing.

She received a message with a photo attached to it from Castle's cell phone and clicked on it immediately.

She nearly jumped in her skin when she saw the photo. It was Castle. There was a single, long, cut across his chest and his face was disfigured with pain.

After staring at the horrifying picture for a few minutes she forced herself to read the message beneath it. 'Meet me at the old train station in an hour or he dies. I'll find you. Don't be late.' She read, and her heart skipped a beat.

* * *

I can go two ways from here, or I have Kate jeopardize Castle's life by telling Ryan and Gates about this or I have her be reckless enough to go on a suicidal mission to save Castle. I honestly have no idea which one I'm going to go with, but it would really help if you could send me a review with your opinion. I'd really love to know what do you prefer.


	8. Hostage Exchange

_I'm sorry guys, I know it is terribly short, but I couldn't really think of where to go after this. I'm kinda stuck..._**  
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* * *

**The Beginning of The End**

_Chapter 8: Hostage Exchange_

Kate thought of what was going to do for a heartbeat. She couldn't call Ryan or Castle would die, she was sure of it. But she couldn't go in there alone and unarmed either. An idea came to her and she picked up her phone, dialing a number on it.

"Esposito." She felt relieved when she heard her friend's voice on the other end.

"Hi Espo, is Beckett." She wasn't sure how she was going to explain the situation to him, and, considering last night's events, she wouldn't blame him if he was mad at her.

"Hey Beckett, what's up?" He didn't sound angry. Good. She let herself relax a little where she sat.

"I need your help. But you can say no to me." She said, still feeling bad for his suspension.

"What is it Beckett?" He didn't sound mad either, that was a good sign, she decided. He might not sound eager either, but at least he didn't completely reject her idea. If she had heard right he had seemed... curious.

"It's Maddox, he kidnapped Castle. I need your help." She said simply, not giving away any details, her voice trembling ever so slightly

"You couldn't just call Ryan?" He asked, hints of exasperation in his voice.

"They know. It's just that Maddox sent me a message." She said before pausing to take a long breath. "It said for me to show up at the old train station in an hour and 'he'd find me'."

"What do you want me to do?" She felt relieved; he would help her after all.

"I need a gun. Mine got stolen when some guy broke into my apartment." She said, knowing Esposito as well as her had his own gun aside from the one the job already provided. She hadn't, however, realized she'd told him about the breaking in.

"Wait, breaking in?" He said, thunderstruck by her words.

"Yeah, long story. Well can I borrow yours?" She asked, shrugging off his comment.

"Sure. I assume you'd like some backup as well? I do have two extra guns you know." She could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I could really use the backup." She said, grateful.

"Where are you? I could pick you up." He said, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door.

"Central Park."

After Beckett and Esposito had arrived at the old train station they decided they should set up as they only had about ten more minutes before the kidnapper's time was up.

Esposito hid behind a wall that covered him fairly well and gave him a good visibility while Beckett stood at open sight, her gun, a Glock 9 millimeter as she was used to, hidden safely inside her jacket. And they waited.

Not long after, a couple of minutes at the most, they both heard footsteps, but not only of a man, there were at least two. Kate's heart skipped a beat, _did Maddox bring Castle along?_, she wondered.

Sure enough, the tall figure they knew as Cole Maddox showed up at the entrance, a gun pointed at Castle's head. Kate froze, her insides turning of worry.

Esposito got out of his spot, gun raised, and Beckett reached for hers.

"You shoot him I'll blow your head off, got me?" Esposito said defiantly.

Kate looked at Rick, analyzing how bad his position was. Maddox had his revolver to Rick's temple and his other arm around his neck. Rick had tears in his eyes, and the cut across his chest looked even worse than it had in the photo.

"He's injured, let him go." Her voice trembled.

Maddox smirked hearing the detective's voice break. "Oh, don't worry detective. I have every intention of letting him go, but I need you first."

Kate felt desperate that she didn't think before saying. "Let him go and I'll go with you."

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_Well, I'm sorry it is so short. (At least it isn't delayed, again.) Well, as always, please send a review, it truly makes my day._


End file.
